Beacon Falls could displace South Korea as site of world's largest fuel cell park

Developers have put forward plans to transform a gravel pit in Beacon Falls into the world's largest fuel cell park over the next three years.

The project's lead, CT Energy & Technology, would develop and own the fuel cell park, which would be loaded with 63.3 megawatts of fuel cells from FuelCell Energy Inc. in Danbury.

Once completed, The Beacon Falls Energy Park would displace the 59-megawatt Gyeonggi Green Energy fuel cell park in South Korea as the world's largest.

The project would provide enough energy to power about 60,000 homes.

"For practical purposes, the project location in Beacon Falls is perfect because it is next to an electric switch yard, a natural gas tie-in and water," said William Corvo, president of CT Energy & Technology.

Fuel cells harvest hydrogen from natural gas, then convert that hydrogen into heat and electricity. The fuel cell can be as small as a mobile home, and it emits only trace amounts of pollutants. Separate from power generation, the fuel cells are also being engineered to capture carbon emissions from gas and coal power plants.

Due to their low emissions, fuel cells count as renewable power generation in Connecticut.

FuelCell Energy, which would operate and maintain the fuel cells, and CT Energy & Technology have signed a letter of intent for the project. The developers and the landowner, O&G Industries, still need to complete engineering studies for the site and to acquire permits.

The fuel cell park would take up about 8 acres of a 24-acre sand and gravel mine on Lopus Road in Beacon Falls.

"Returning a former sand mine site to the tax rolls is solid economic policy, and doing so with unobtrusive fuel cells that are clean and quiet and built in Connecticut is very compelling," Corvo said.

Corvo declined to disclose the price tag for the project, but it is bound to reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. At about quarter of the size of the Beacon Falls project, the 15-megawatt fuel cell park in Bridgeport cost about $65 million.

To shore up financing of the project, Corvo said he's looking into the type of long-term power purchase contracts that give investors certainty. One possible source would be the request for clean energy proposals that Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island previewed in February.